Moses - Part 47
Notes
Transcript
Intro / Recap
Intro / Recap
18 And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. (The fear of the Lord will drive you to stand away from the edge or line) 19 And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die. 20 And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.
*Like we have in other weeks during the course of our study on the life of Moses, we are taking a temporary pit-stop to address an important truth
Right now, that is the Fear of the Lord…
Last week we concluded that:
Definition: The continual awareness that I am in the presence of a holy, just, and Almighty God, and that every thought, word, action, and deed is open before him and is being judged by him.
- Fear of man: What others think about us
- Fear of God: Grave concerns about what God thinks of our thoughts, actions, attitudes, words
And we learned that this is not just a reverential fear for God…
Interesting note:
Moses speaks about this moment later on:
5 Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. 6 Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. 7 For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for? 8 And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day? 9 Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons; 10 Specially the day that thou stoodest before the Lord thy God in Horeb, when the Lord said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children. 11 And ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness. 12 And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice. 13 And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone. 14 And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it. 15 Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire:
Similitude: image, likeness, representation that can be seen
Once God shows His form, physical reproductions would begin as they already had...
Notice:
wisdom and understanding all over the passage...
Why?
Fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom...
Fear of the LORD is wrapped up in obedience to His law...
2. What is the fear of the Lord?
2. What is the fear of the Lord?
a. Clean and enduring forever (Ps. 19:9 “The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgements of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.”
b. The right foundation to make godly choices
o The beginning of wisdom (Ps. 111:10 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.”
o The beginning of knowledge (Prov. 1:7 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
o Instruction of wisdom (Prov. 15:33 “The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom; and before honour is humility.”
o The Root of wisdom (Prov. 9:10 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.”
c. Hating sin and loving God Prov. 8:13 “The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the forward mouth, do I hate.”
d. Prolongeth days (Prov. 10:27 “The fear of the LORD prolongeth days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortened.”
e. Strong confidence (Prov. 14:26 “In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge.”
f. Contentment (Prov. 15:16 “Better is little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble therewith.”
g. Departing from evil (Prov. 16:6 “By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.”
h. Riches, honour and life (Prov. 22:4 “By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, and honour, and life.”
i. Helps get your eyes off the world and on the Lord (Prov. 23:17 “Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long.”
j. Way to perfect holiness (II Cor. 7:1 “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”
3. Examples of the fear of God:
3. Examples of the fear of God:
1. Noah moved with fear to build an ark
Hebrews 11:7 “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.”
2. Abraham proved his fear of the Lord in offering Isaac
Genesis 22:12 “And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou nay thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.”
3. The Hebrew midwives disobeyed the Pharaoh to obey God
Exodus 1:17, 21 “But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive. (21) And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses.”
4. Obadiah hid 100 prophets from the wrath of Jezebel
I Kings 18:3-4 “And Ahab called Obadiah, which was the governor of his house. (Now Obadiah feared the LORD greatly: (4) For it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD, that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.)
5. Job’s great testimony included fearing God
Job 1:8 “And the LORD said unto Satan, hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?”
6. Appropriate worship comes from the fear of God
Psalms 5:7 “But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy: and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple.”
7. Jonah feared God in his chastisement
Jonah 1:9 “And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the
